Reviewing Sabayon 4 !

[Dark Star]

Hi
I have recently got an offer from an Indian Linux Magazine to review Sabayon 4.. I'll be getting the DVD's in a day or 2.. But before I review I would like to know few things..

1. What are the unique futures of Sabayon ?
2 . Where I can get more info about Sabayon history .. ?
3. Will my system AMD X3 8650 with AMD 790 GX board having ATI HD 3300 based graphics be able to run Compiz out of the box ?
4. Any additional things I need to keep in mind before reviewing .. I have reviewed quite a lot of distro and have much linux experience .. So hoping for doing a good review..

Waiting to see if Sabayon work flawlessly in my PC

Apart from that did Sabayon has its own repositories like Ubuntu/Mandriva and others ? Will I get system updates or need to depend on rolling release ?

Waiting for response

Will share the pdf after getting the review published

Hoping for best,,
Regards

[Stupot]

Have a look at the Sabayon wiki. It's got most of the information you've requested (plus a bunch you didn't ask about).

http://wiki.sabayonlinux.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

[Dark Star]

Yep will read it but few features that are Sabayon unique // ? I loved the new Artwork though

[DHalens]

To your questions, in my opinion and if i remember correctly...

1. Unique features of sabayon:
   
   1. the package manager (including tools for manage your own repository both with cli and gui): entropy (see http://www.sabayonlinux.org/pages/show/id/63 for more details of the whole project).
   2. hardware detection capabilities: graphic cards works ootb and also, it has better than other distros such as ubuntu (according with distrowatch, see two paragraphs before installation screenshot -> http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20080721)
   3. artwork
   4. speed: even having a huge amount of apps, sabayon is still so fast
2. No idea about the history of the distro...
3. It should work ootb but i think there was an issue with some ati cards so be sure to download 4-r1 and remember to click on update installer in the installer.
4. Others (can't remember anything additional to keep in mind so i'll just write other good things):
   
   1. Devels really listen to users: you can request packages or give your opinion about how anything is done and be sure they'll take a look.
   2. Community is good and friendly.

[Dark Star]

How many version Sabayon has ? I have heard of Mini [that I used sometimes ago] and DVD.. Recently I saw a blog post saying LITE MCE ?

Did Sabayon include XBMC [Media Center] ?

[DHalens]

You can see the releases sabayon has had in http://forum.sabayonlinux.org/viewforum.php?f=60 or in a easier to read table in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabayon_Linux#Releases
The main version is the dvd. Mini was the cd version; Pod was a cd version not including portage (i think it has other reasons for the different name but can't remember); MCE will be a media center edition including xbmc (see http://wgo.wolf911.us/?p=76 for a little preview).

[Dark Star]

Got the DVD everything working perfectly except the Screen Resolution..

I am having 19": TFT LCD which is suppose to have 1440X900 reso. but I am getting 1024X768 despite the fact ATI drivers are installed

Few queries. Sabayon has Compiz working out of the box. But the reflection isn't configured perfectly or is it my ATI card ? Will take the settings from MDV CCSM.. and wth you guys have included GTK ver. of CCSM that didn't display Menu icons in KDE>.

Apart from that I liked the initials.. Loved the songs and idea of implementing at the boot./ .. NO XBMC though in the DV sent to me.. Have Sabayon 4 r1

Rest ok.. Please let me know how to configure resolution and there are black borders in windows while doing in compiz..

Regards

[lxnay]

Screen resolution magic is done by the video driver. So, I suppose fglrx (proprietary AMD driver) doesn't either set it correctly or read it correctly or your display contains bad EDID information.

[Dark Star]

But Mandriva and Fedora has no problem in setting it up right.. Though Ubuntu failed to do it :p

[lxnay]

It depends on the driver version. Mandriva & friends probably don't use the AMD proprietary driver, we do.